Aston Villa and Lille sprung surprises on Wednesday night, stealing the headlines with victories over Bayern München and Real Madrid respectively. Benfica, Juventus and Liverpool all joined Villa on maximum points with second-league phase wins of their own, while Feyenoord, Atalanta and Club Brugge each kick-started their 2024/25 UEFA Champions League campaigns with Matchday 2 triumphs.
Wednesday night’s UEFA Champions League action
Shakhtar Donetsk 0-3 Atalanta
Atalanta opened their away campaign in emphatic style with a dazzling attacking display in Gelsenkirchen. Berat Djimsiti deftly steered in Ademola Lookman’s cross for the 21st-minute opener, and Lookman sent a cushioned volley against the crossbar before netting with a low finish a minute before the break. Raoul Bellanova nodded in the third three minutes into the second half from a delivery by Davide Zappacosta, who fired against a post moments later.
Two own goals either side of Antoni Milambo’s cool finish ensured Feyenoord took maximum points at Girona. David López’s close-range finish had given the hosts the lead in their first European home game, but Quinten Timber’s header deflected in off Yangel Herrera for the equaliser and Milambo edged the visitors in front with a smart strike. Paulo Gazzaniga had to stop Ayase Ueda making it 3-1 from the penalty spot.
After half-time, visiting keeper Timon Wellenreuther prevented Bojan Miovski from levelling with a spot kick, but instead, Donny van de Beek restored parity by side-footing in after good work from Arnaut Danjuma.
However, there was a repeat of Matchday 1’s late heartache for Girona when Ladislav Krejčí turned Dávid Hancko’s cross into his own net.
Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern München
Substitute Jhon Durán’s majestic 79th-minute lob gave Aston Villa victory in their first ever Champions League home match. In an absorbing contest, six-time champions Bayern almost went ahead when Michael Olise’s dipping first-half strike was brilliantly tipped over by Emiliano Martínez. However, it was Durán – prolific from the bench this season – who timed his run to perfection to meet Pau Torres’s long pass and lift the winner over Manuel Neuer. Martínez rescued Villa again during added time, thwarting Serge Gnabry and Harry Kane.
Monaco came from two goals down to secure a point against Dinamo in Zagreb. Petar Sučić scored in first-half added time to hand the hosts the advantage, then Martin Baturina struck after a clever dribble to put Dinamo 2-0 up midway through the second half.
However, Monaco defender Mohammed Salisu headed home from a corner with 16 minutes left, and captain Denis Zakaria dispatched a penalty in the 90th minute to equalise.
Liverpool 2-0 Bologna
Alexis Mac Allister’s close-range strike and a sublime Mohamed Salah finish ensured Liverpool continued their winning start in Arne Slot’s first experience of a European night at Anfield.
The hosts pounced with their first effort 11 minutes in when Mac Allister connected with a Salah cross to prod the Reds in front. Bologna grew in stature, though, with Dan Ndoye hitting the woodwork and Alisson Becker denying Kacper Urbański and Riccardo Orsolini either side of half-time.
However, Salah made sure of maximum points in style 15 minutes from time, cutting in from the right before curling a left-footed shot into the far corner.
Lille held off late pressure from the champions to see out a memorable victory in France.
Jonathan David’s penalty put the French side ahead just before half-time and Ayyoub Bouaddi, celebrating his 17th birthday with his first Champions League start, shone in midfield as the Spanish side struggled to break through a resilient Lille backline.
Real Madrid had a string of late attempts in pursuit of the equaliser, but could not find a way past a superb Lucas Chevalier as their 14-match unbeaten run in the Champions League came to an end.
Leipzig 2-3 Juventus
A late Francisco Conceição goal earned a ten-man Juventus victory in Germany. Benjamin Šeško had given the hosts a one-goal half-time advantage, only for Dušan Vlahović to equalise with a thunderous strike before the Bianconeri had goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio sent off. Šeško then restored Leipzig’s lead, this time from the penalty spot, yet Vlahović again responded for the visitors. Finally, Conceição popped up in the 82nd minute with a mazy run and calm finish to ensure the away side claimed all three points.
Club Brugge bounced back from their Matchday 1 defeat with a narrow win at Sturm Graz.
Following a strong start from the Belgian team, Christos Tzolis latched onto Raphael Onyedika’s cross-field ball and curled a fantastic effort in off a post midway through the first half.
In their first Champions League game in Austria since 2001, Sturm struggled to seriously trouble their opponents, with only Kjell Scherpen saves from Tzolis and Ferran Jutglà denying the visitors a greater margin of victory.
Benfica 4-0 Atlético de Madrid
Benfica are among the seven clubs with maximum points from two games after this convincing success against Atleti. Kerem Aktürkoğlu fired the hosts ahead but Samuel Lino was unlucky to see his cross come back off the bar, denying him a leveller. Bruno Lage’s men pressed home their superiority after the break, with penalties from Ángel Di María and Orkun Kökçü sandwiching a fine header from Alexander Bah. Benfica now have five successive wins in all competitions.
